Memories of Love and War

You'll see in my profile that I also wear the hat of a journalist. No one in EMS has only one job, right?

I had an idea which began percolating years ago as I was in the back of an ambulance with an 80-year-old woman during a 30 minute ride to the hospital. I had a precautionary line started and 12-lead done with 25 minutes to go.

This is where many of the excitement-driven medics would languish, longing for the next glimpse of major trauma or cool invasive procedures. Me, I figured we had time to chat.

It turns out this woman was a nurse in World War II. She didn't say specifically, but alluded to coming from a wealthy family in Manhattan. In the 1940s women had certain programmed career choices. She became a nurse. A poster in the hospital said the Army needed nurses stateside for 1 year. What the poster didn't say was after a year and one day she would be headed overseas.

She enlisted and ended up in North Africa seeing battlefield casualties. She spoke little of that; her generation guards their military experience with an iron clad stoicism that has spanned 60 years. I could see between her words, in the pauses where memories remain cloistered, that there was more. I regret never going back to see her. To talk more about that time, listening to more of the memories, even if for my own selfish desire.

While I may have saved a patient or two in my days in EMS, I look back at my time with her as one of the best and most profound experiences in 30 years riding in the back of an ambulance. I think about it often.

I recently returned to the assisted living facility where I met the World War II nurse several years ago. My chance to talk again with her had passed. Knowing this, my goal was to gather more of these memories before they were lost forever. It wasn't an original idea. Many have written and photographed projects before me. It was a personal quest.

I pitched the series to our local weekly newspaper and they went for it. Today's installment brings this blog post full circle. The link below is to an article I did for the Valentine's day edition of the paper. I interviewed three fascinating people about their half-century relationships and how they were affected by war. It is called:

The Generations Project: Memories of love and war

More for the educators...

I'm in awe. After looking at the video in the previous post I wanted to know more about this classroom and professor. I found a video which gives a better idea about the man and his methods.

It is something to aspire to. Imagine your EMS students considering their education a journey rather than a hurdle to get "the card." Imagine probing questions, discovery and insight being part of that journey...and your classroom.

Imagine your students feeling like this:

One for the educators...

I taught an instructor CE class on online learning last Friday (to a great group in Bangor, Maine). One of the statements I made was that our educational system in EMS uses the worst possible methods for the students--and the best for us--or at least the one that makes us feel best and most secure. If you haven't guessed, I am talking about lecture.

Everyone is angry at the AHA for going to the video-driven classes but the AHA is right. We talk too much. Students don't practice and apply enough. Listening to the instructor is one of the worst ways to learn. I'm sorry but war stories have a limited value and only when short and in context. Students need to think, apply and problem solve.

In Maine there are many who oppose online classes (better termed asynchronous learning). When I suggested a hybrid online/classroom-based EMT-I class two years ago you'd think I kicked Johnny and Roy right in the nuts.

My opinion: asynchronous learning can provide better learning than we offer in the traditional classroom when done right...and make it easier for us to reach more people. Doing it right involves well constructed classes, choosing appropriate topics and providing active student/instructor participation.

I believe students text and Facebook in class because they are bored. Students are tech savvy and have outgrown our fascination with PowerPoint long ago (which seems to drain interactivity right out of the classroom unless it is done properly).

My sister-in-law (a teacher and school board member) recently posted a youtube video on her facebook page. It gives an interesting glimpse into the lives of students and some shocking realities for the classroom. Please take a look.